Minnesota Vikings: Tarvaris Jackson Placed on IR, End of an Era

So ends the career of a Minnesota Vikings' quarterback.

After "The Streak" was broken at 297 consecutive regular season starts, no doubt many people thought this could spell the end of Brett Favre's career.

After the game against the Giants there was doubt if Favre, who still did not have full feeling in his right hand, would ever take another snap for the Minnesota Vikings.

On Thursday at a news conference at the Vikings' facility in Eden Prairie Favre said: "If it is meant to be over, so be it."

However, the quarterback whose career is over may not be Favre, but Tarvaris Jackson.

On Thursday Minnesota placed Jackson on the injured reserve with a turf toe injury, essentially ending, not only his season, but his career with the Vikings as well.

Monday night against the Giants should have been Jackson's shot to prove he is a serviceable quarterback in the NFL.

Instead, after completing 15 of 30 passes for 118 yards and an interception—a 46.2 quarterback rating—Jackson proved why former head coach Brad Childress and current head coach Leslie Frazier keep repeating this mantra: "If Favre is healthy, he will start because he gives this team the best chance to win."  

Jackson's quarterback rating this season is 63.9. That would put him 31st in the NFL if he were eligible. This is even worse than that of Favre's 69.6.

In his five-year career with the Vikings, Jackson, a second-round draft choice, will leave with a 10-10 record in the regular season and an 0-1 record in the playoffs. 

Childress saw something in Jackson. The Vikings traded two third-round draft picks in order to move up and select him with the 64th pick overall in the 2006 draft.

Even Jackson was surprised by the pick saying, "I was more focused on getting drafted in the third round and even that was stretching it".

Jackson was not even listed among the top 10 quarterbacks by most pre-draft publications, yet he was the fifth quarterback selected in the draft.

After Favre was chauffeured back to the Vikings in August, the quarterback battle between Jackson and Sage Rosenfels shifted from starter to back up—a battle that Rosenfels appeared to have won.

How good would it be to have Rosenfels on this roster now?

In the preseason Rosenfels completed 29 of 44 passes for 391 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions for an impressive 124.3 quarterback rating.

Compare that to Jackson who was only 12 of 26 for 60 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions—a lowly 53.0 rating. Looking back, that certainly was an omen of things to come.

It should have been obvious that Jackson had no future with the Vikings, yet Childress, in his dubious wisdom, still saw something in Jackson and traded Rosenfels to the Giants. This no doubt compounded Childress' ineffectiveness and is one of the reasons the adjective "former" is now placed in front of "head coach."

With no contract for next year, we will not see Jackson in a Minnesota Vikings' uniform again. 

At least one question was answered for the Vikings and their fans: Is Tarvaris Jackson the answer at quarterback for the Vikings in 2011?

Now the question becomes: Who will be the Vikings' quarterback in 2011?

Let the Joe Webb era officially began as the third watch for Favre's "un-retirement" will unfold in less than a month.